A memorable talk with my 8 year old!

Last night my family and I went to MOD pizza. My elder son and I were still finishing our food so my younger son was tired and my wife and him went to the car. I started inquisitively asking my son about how school is going, even though we briefly talk about it daily. He told me everything is good. I took a moment to think about my life in 3rd grade, so I told him how I used to get made fun of and be bullied. I thought it would be good for him to know. I told him that children don’t know better, sometimes adults don’t either… the environment or difficulties children face at home, shows up in their behavior at school, they may not know how to love themselves yet. I said, “when you don’t love yourself, you either get jealous of others or feel the need to make fun of others, which falsely can make you feel good.” With his full attention he listened and said, “can we have these talks more often?” I was touched and the same time became alert that I need to do a better job of communicating with my children. He started asking about God, and what each of them stands for. I told him, “all Gods that teach righteousness and truth are all one. It’s up to you to be a good person, you have the free will to choose. No human is perfect in this world except an “Arihanta” which I will explain later. As long as you know that you are doing the right thing and are confident in being a good person then no words of others should bother you because you know you are good. If inside, you knew you did something wrong then you must be honest with yourself. YOU make the choice of how to react to someone’s words or actions. Even as an adult you will know that there are nice people and the opposite, but you must be moral and ethical in your thoughts and behavior which will get you through life happily.” I tried to explain all this in a simple manner so that he understood. Our children are our precious, priceless gifts. Give time, love, and care to them. Be the example, while knowing you’re not perfect.